(Jewish Group) Iran's New President Has a Track Record of Antisemitism
The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, a 19th century forgery by Russian intelligence services, was designed to scapegoat Jews for the empire's hardships. It has since fueled more than a century of hate. The Protocols has catalyzed antisemitic harassment, assaults and pogroms, and helped lay the groundwork for the Holocaust. For over a century, the Anti-Defamation League and other experts have warned that The Protocols are nothing but venomous lies and antisemitic conspiracy theories.
And Iran's President-Elect, Ebrahim Raisi, played a hands-on role in promoting The Protocols as part of a sustained campaign to demonize and delegitimize the Jewish people.
This information, which the ADL recently uncovered, is deeply relevant as the world considers whether to return to the Iran deal and what would constitute a "longer and stronger" accord. Raisi's track record shows us that an obsessive hatred of the Jewish state is not an abstraction but a major feature of his career.
To be clear, Raisi is far from a humanitarian. He has gotten much attention for reported crimes against humanity. It is well-documented that he was one of four judges who, in the late 1980s, oversaw the execution of thousands of members of Iranian opposition groups, including women and children. One analyst recently wrote that his subdued personality and criminal record evokes Hannah Arendt's notion of the banality of evil.
In 2016, Raisi was appointed by Iran's supreme leader to direct the Astan Quds Razavi Foundation, in which capacity he oversaw the production of a 50-episode documentary film promoting The Protocols. The documentary aired on Iranian TV and was distributed to pilgrims at a major religious shrine under his control, the Shrine of Imam Reza in Mashhad, Iran, the resting place of the eighth Shi'ite Imam. The Shrine is a major religious site visited by 20 million pilgrims a year pre-pandemic, according to Iranian records filed with UNESCO.
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